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Jack Bauer wins Jayco Herald Sun Tour prologue through Melbourne CBD

ACTION PHOTOS: NEW Zealander Jack Bauer has won the Jayco Herald Sun Tour prologue through Melbourne's CBD with a blistering display over the 2.5km course.

Leo Schlink
4 min read
February 5, 2014 - 8:41PM
HeraldSun
Thomas Moses gives it his all. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Thomas Moses gives it his all. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

GARMIN-Sharp has drawn first blood in the battle for Jayco Herald Sun Tour supremacy after Jack Bauer upstaged fellow Kiwi Tom Scully to secure the yellow leader's jersey with a blistering prologue display.

Badly injured on last season's Tour de France, Bauer was the fastest of 96 riders over a twisting 2.5km course Wednesday night, scorching to the line in 3min,00.90secs to edge out NZ National Team's Scully (3.1.81).

Drapac's Will Clarke (3.2.51) was third.

Tom Scully of the New Zealand National team was sitting pretty in first place until Jack Bauer stormed home. Picture: Michael Klein
Tom Scully of the New Zealand National team was sitting pretty in first place until Jack Bauer stormed home. Picture: Michael Klein

Race favourite Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) sits 11th overall, but only 6sec off the lead.

Bauer will carry a slender buffer into today's first stage from Geelong to Ballarat, clasping a 1sec lead over Scully.

Bauer's Garmin-Sharp team-mate and 2011 champion Nathan Haas is fifth, only 3sec astern.

Bauer and Haas were joined in powerful Garmin Sharp display by Steele Von Hoff (sixth) and Rohan Dennis (seventh).

Bauer had a twinge of regret about relegating Scully from the winner's hot seat in front of a massive Southbank crowd.

"It's a bit of a pity to knock a fellow Kiwi off the top perch but it may as well be another Kiwi doing it," he said.

"The whole team is here with pretty decent legs.

"I didn't really think we had anybody to challenge for today's stage.

"Don't get me wrong, we come here to win always. It's a little different when you don't ride a lot of non-WorldTour races.

"It's a mindset I need to get over actually."

Will Clarke (Drapac) set the third fastest time in the prologue. Picture: Michael Klein
Will Clarke (Drapac) set the third fastest time in the prologue. Picture: Michael Klein

Bauer, 28, suffered severe facial cuts injuries after careering into a barbed wire fence on the descent of Col de la Madeleine on stage 19 of the Tour de France in July.

A stage winner on last season's Tour of Romandie, Scully showcased renowned handling skills along the banks of the Yarra in front of a huge gallery before Bauer eclipsed an excellent time.

Set off at 45-second intervals, riders powered from Birrarung Marr, across Princes Bridge, down Petticoat Lane and along Boathouse Drive to the finish at Southbank.

Hitting speeds of 60kmh, fed off the energy of the largest crowd with the place-getters averaging more than 45km/h.

Race officials will closely monitor weather conditions on Saturday amid forecasts of heatwave conditions. But the Tour's heat policy is unlikely to be invoked for the 118.5km third stage from Michelton Winery to Nagambie, where temperatures are tipped to top 40c.

Race director John Trevorrow said the predicted weather was "a concern."

Thomas Moses gives it his all. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Thomas Moses gives it his all. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

"But a lot of factors come into invoking the heat policy," he said. "It is not just temperature, it's wind and humidity and other factors.

"We do have the option of starting stages earlier but with the maximum predicted to be 40c - and probably in the late afternoon - that wouldn't be enough to bring it on."

Saturday's stage starts at 10.30am at Michelton Winery and is expected to finish in Nagambie between 2-2.30pm.

Australia's oldest stage race hits the open roads today for a testing 116km journey from Geelong to Ballarat.

Among the expected highlights is how the 96-rider peloton negotiates the narrow, savage contours of the Glenmore Road climb, best known in the cycling community as the "Hell of the West."

The stage starts at 10.30am from Cunningham Pier and is timed to finish between 1.15-1.30pm in Armstrong St in central Ballarat.

Reigning national and Tour Down Under champion Simon Gerrans is chasing a historic triple crown.

Jeremy Cameron. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
Jeremy Cameron. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

Regrouping after a torrid early-season campaign the Orica-GreenEDGE team leader is confident after twice edging out grand tour forces Cadel Evans and Richie Porte in successive races.

But he admits the fabulous double took its toll.

"Physically I got through the Tour Down Under really well - being an early-season race, I'm still quite fresh and I was able to bounce back quite quickly," Gerrans said.

"But the Tour is a very intense race and there was a lot of pressure on myself and the team coming into it.

"So I was a little bit tired off the back of it.

"In the following few days ... catching up on a little bit of sleep, I feel like I've bounced back really well."

Chasing a third Herald Sun Tour victory, Gerrans is wary of Garmin-Sharp, which boasts top Australians Nathan Haas and Rohan Dennis.

Haas won the 2011 Herald Sun Tour and has made a great start to the year, finishing fifth at the Tour Down Under.

Gerrans again will have a strong team around him, with Simon Clarke and Cameron Meyer his main lieutenants.

He expects the overall title to come down to the last stage, the 124km stage at Arthurs Seat on the Mornington Peninsula.

It will feature three ascents of the steep 3km Arthurs Seat climb and a summit finish.

"There is nothing that's overly selective close to the finishes of any stage until we get to Arthurs Seat," Gerrans said.

"We're going to see some exciting and tough racing over the first three road stages, but I don't think we'll see any real selection.

"We won't know who the winner is until the last ascent of Arthurs Seat."

- with AAP.

Stage winner Jack Bauer of the Garmin Sharp team celebrates. Picture: Michael Klein
Stage winner Jack Bauer of the Garmin Sharp team celebrates. Picture: Michael Klein
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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/tourdownunder/jack-bauer-wins-jayco-herald-sun-tour-prologue-through-melbourne-cbd/news-story/ac105109fc7e000fd4531aca6cd6672e